The Missing Piece
by 1DarkPhoenix1
Summary: Harry & co are back at Hogwarts after the war for eighth year. For Harry everything has finally worked out. Voldemort is dead, the world is at peace and he has a girlfriend who he loves but he still feels like something is missing. Enter Draco Malfoy.


**Disclaimer -**I don't own any part of Harry Potter, that privilege belongs to J K Rowling.

**A/N -**This was originally written for AO3 in separate chapters but I've put it all into one chapter to make reading it easier. I don't have a beta so any mistakes are my own.

**The Missing****Piece**

by 1DarkPhoenix1

"On a separate note," McGonagall's voice rang out through the Great Hall. "All the returning eighth years will be sharing classes and living in the newly refurbished west wing of the castle. Dorm assignments will be handed out at the end of the feast by the head boy and girl."

Ron groaned loudly from beside Harry at the Gryffindor table, "We better not have to dorm with any Slytherins; they might try to kill us in our sleep!"

"Ron!" Hermione admonished him under her breath, "They've been through just as much as we have during the war and most of their parents are in Azkaban now which can't be easy to deal with. We should at least try to be civil with them."

"Right, yeah," Ron said, nodding along with everything she said. Harry rolled his eyes at his friend's behaviour. Ever since Ron and Hermione had started going out after the war ended, Ron had been very quick to back down in their arguments. Although Harry knew it was because Ron didn't want to disappoint his girlfriend, it did get a bit boring after a while. A nudge to his side and a raised eyebrow told him that Ginny felt the same way. Hopefully now that they were back at Hogwarts things would go back to normal. Personally, Harry was quite looking forward to a year of normality.

Harry turned his attention to his girlfriend sitting beside him. After the war, he and Ginny had gotten straight back together and their relationship was still going strong. He knew she had hoped that they would be in the same classes but now they wouldn't even share a common room. However, he felt sure they could get past that and still spend lots of time together. After all, they loved each other, didn't they?

xxx

On the way to their new common room after the feast, Seamus came jogging up beside the trio. Harry had just said goodbye to Ginny, who was heading off to the Gryffindor common room with her friends.

"Hey Hermione, you're head girl. Any chance of you telling us our dorms?" Hermione bit her lip uncertainly and replied,

"I'll tell you all when we get to the common room." Professor McGonagall had given her the details when they were leaving the Hall, but she got the feeling that it would be better to share them in a slightly more private setting so that their reactions wouldn't scare the younger pupils.

Harry frowned at her as if sensing the reason for her reluctance,

"We're not going to like it, are we?" he asked quietly so that only she would hear. Hermione shook her head slowly and turned to him,

"Please try and keep Ron from overreacting. You know what he's like."

By this point they had reached the portrait that would guard their home for the next year. A group had gathered outside waiting for Hermione to show up with the password. In the interest of fairness, McGonagall had chosen a seventh year as head boy so obviously he wasn't in their dorms. Harry could see Malfoy leaning up against the wall next to the portrait. It was a familiar pose but to Harry it seemed to be lacking something. His arms were crossed across his chest but it looked defensive, as though he was protecting himself. Judging from the glares he and the other Slytherins were receiving from the other houses, they would need to defend themselves a lot. Harry couldn't blame them from wanting to put distance between themselves and everyone else.

Malfoy was pointedly ignoring the stares but it was obvious to Harry they were affecting him. His eyes looked tired and his usual smirk was nowhere to be seen. Harry had been at his trial several months earlier and although his testimony had saved Malfoy and his mother from prison, he had refused to do anything to save Lucius and the man had ended up with a life sentence in Azkaban. Harry hadn't felt at all guilty at the time but now the realisation that Malfoy had lost a parent sent a pang through his chest.

Malfoy looked up at their arrival and the trademark smirk was back on his face so quickly that it was hard to believe it hadn't been there the whole time. But Harry had watched him enough over the years to know that it was just a mask.

"So you've finally decided to grace us with your presence, Potter. You know, some of us would quite like to get to bed, but that's ok take as long as you want," he said in a voice heavy with sarcasm.

Harry opened his mouth to reply with an equally scathing retort but stopped himself at the last minute and instead reached into his pocket.

"Here, catch," he told a surprised looking Malfoy, tossing him the object he had pulled from his robes. Malfoy's eyes widened even further when he realised he was holding the wand that Harry had taken from him during the events at Malfoy Manor. Whatever Malfoy had been about to say froze in his throat; all he could do was stare intensely at Harry to try and figure out why he was doing this.

Watching the rising tension between the two boys, and the other students edging around beside them, Hermione decided it would be best to get everyone into their dorms as quickly as possible. Announcing the password, she stepped up into the now open doorway and cleared her throat loudly,

"Right, now that we're all here, can everyone gather in the common room and I'll tell you the dorm assignments. The password's 'Salamander' by the way," and having effectively broken the building tension she walked through the portrait hole.

Everyone followed Hermione inside, eager to learn who their dorm mates would be. This left Harry and Malfoy alone except for Ron, who was currently glancing nervously between the two expecting a fight. After a few seconds Malfoy broke his stare, nodded at Harry, and strode into the common room.

"What was all that about, mate?" Ron asked once Malfoy had gone.

"Nothing. Never mind, let's just go find out who we'll be rooming with," Harry replied, grabbing Ron's arm and dragging him along to listen to Hermione.

xxx

By the time Harry and Ron had entered the common room everyone had gathered around Hermione, who was signalling the boys to hurry up. Before she started talking, Harry took a quick moment to look around. It wasn't as comfortable looking as the Gryffindor common room, with its warm fire and sofas that you could sink into, but it had an open, friendly feel that Harry hoped would calm any tempers that were sure to rise.

"Okay, listen up everyone," Hermione said, calling everyone's attention to her. "There will be three girl's dorms each with four people in them, and three boy's dorms with five people in each. The boy's dorms are down the corridor to the left and the girl's to the right." Deciding to get the worst over and done with quickly, Hermione read out the boy's dorm listings first.

"In Dorm 1 are Seamus, Dean, Ernie, Justin and Anthony; in Dorm 2 are Harry, Ron, Neville," here she paused slightly, took a deep breath and prepared herself for the outburst, "with Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini."

The outcry was immediate and, as far as Hermione could tell, mostly coming from Ron. Harry's face had hardened slightly but he didn't seem to be making much of a fuss. This surprised Hermione and she made a mental note to ask him about it later.

"Look," Hermione told them all sternly. "I know you may not like the situation but Professor McGonagall is trying to promote House unity. There's no way that she's going to change her mind about this so you'll just have to live with it."

After a few moments the commotion had settled down slightly and Hermione was able to continue reading out the dorms.

xxx

Harry barely heard the rest of the dorm assignments. His brain had frozen when he had heard he would be sharing a room with Malfoy. It was going to be interesting to say the least. Harry didn't really know much about Blaise but he had always seemed like an alright guy so he thought they would get on ok. Malfoy, on the other hand, was different. The two of them had a history of animosity which was going to be hard to ignore. Hermione was right though, their lives would be difficult enough as it was and Harry was determined not to make it any worse. They would be sharing a living space after all and Harry was going to do his utmost to make it as bearable as possible. With that decision set in his mind, Harry turned back to Hermione who had just finished speaking.

"Right now that that's done, are there any questions?" she asked the room who were already moving around to get to get to their dorms. When no one answered she quickly walked off towards Harry and Ron, the latter of which immediately started complaining to her.

"This is unbelievable! Of all the people, it had to be Malfoy. We're not going to make it through a week never mind the whole year!"

"Honestly Ronald, stop exaggerating. It won't be that bad and look, Harry's not complaining, are you Harry?"

Harry started at being asked a direct opinion and opened his mouth to mumble out a reply but Hermione had already begun speaking again.

"See, he doesn't mind. And at least you've got Neville with you as well. I'm stuck with Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode, who are unlikely to ever be reasonable with me, though Padma's alright I suppose," she trailed off and Ron looked like he was about to say something that would dig him into a deeper hole with his girlfriend. A look from Harry stopped him before he got the words out.

"Anyway," Hermione said. "We'd best get to bed now. We have an early start tomorrow and we want to be able to concentrate fully in our classes." With that she gave Ron a goodnight kiss and strolled off to her dormitory.

Harry and Ron shared a smile at her antics. Not even a war could change their friend's attitude towards schoolwork. She had made a good point though; it was getting late and both the boys were tired from the journey on the train and the feast. Leaving the common room and the last few groups of people remaining, they went to find their dorm.

xxx

When they got there Neville had already finished unpacking and to their surprise, was sitting on his bed chatting quite happily to Blaise about plants.

"There's this one plant that's so small it fits on the head of a pin but it's so acidic it kills everything living around it. I've got one in my trunk if you want to... Oh, hey Harry."

At this, Blaise, who had had his back to the door, turned round and extended his hand to Harry.

"Blaise Zabini, it's nice to finally meet you in person. Why don't we just forget about House rivalries and agree to get along?" Harry smiled at him and could feel Ron's horror from beside him when he took Blaise's hand and shook it.

"Sounds like a plan."

At this point Malfoy entered the room and stopped suddenly, staring at their clasped hands. Harry had flashbacks of first year when he had refused to take Malfoy's hand and immediately withdrew his own from Blaise and cleared his throat.

At that Malfoy snapped out of his daze and went to his bed, where he turned his robes into sleeping clothes and drew the curtains shut around his bed without a word. Harry blinked owlishly at his odd behaviour before wishing the others goodnight and doing the same.

As he lay in his four-poster bed, Harry had to wonder if Malfoy had also been thinking about Harry's rejection back in first year and he resolved to find out as soon as possible in the morning. As he fell asleep, his last thoughts were not of Ginny but of cool grey eyes staring intensely back into his own.

xxx

The topic had first come up the next morning at breakfast but Harry hadn't been left alone about it since. It had started when a group of Gryffindors that were sat near them had started talking about the Quidditch trials. When he had heard them, Ron had turned to look at Harry frowning, until finally asking,

"I knew something looked wrong, where's your Captain's badge?"

Harry paused before answering, unsure how to go about telling his overly competitive Quidditch-mad friend.

"I'm not going to be captain this year. Actually, I don't think I'll be playing Quidditch at all. Just seems a bit unfair really for the younger years to miss out on a place in the team or the captaincy."

At some point during Harry's speech, Ron's mouth had dropped open and he was now staring at him with a look of pure shock.

"But...you...what..." Ron spluttered, trying to find the right words. "You can't just quit. We'll have no chance for the cup without you on the team."

"'Course we do," Harry said. "The team's still strong even if I'm not on it. Besides, after everything that's happened I don't really feel like playing anymore."

"But you love flying," Ron seemed to be getting even more confused about Harry's actions.

"I do and I'm sure I'll still go out on my broom a lot, just not competitively."

At that point, Hermione decided to join the conversation. Until then she had been perfectly fine reading the Prophet and not getting involved, but she knew if she didn't intervene Ron wouldn't stop bothering Harry until he eventually gave in to something that he didn't want to do.

"If Harry doesn't want to play, you can't force him into it Ron," she told him firmly. "Anyway it isn't really that important in the long run, is it."

Ron gaped at her for a moment before proceeding to tell her exactly how she was wrong about Quidditch not being important.

xxx

Harry blocked out his friends' bickering and stared down at his plate thinking. Malfoy had left the dorm by the time Harry had woken up that morning and Harry hadn't seen him since. Normally Harry would have thought he'd be quite pleased that Malfoy appeared to be avoiding him but somehow it left him feeling quite unsatisfied. He wanted to know what was going on inside the blonde's head.

Harry glanced over at the Slytherin table where Malfoy was sitting with his friends. They all looked quite subdued and there wasn't much talking going on, though Blaise did smile at Harry when he noticed his gaze. Harry watched as Blaise turned and said something to Malfoy which had the blond scowling and the others who had overheard hiding smiles and sniggering. Abruptly, Malfoy stood up and stalked out of the Hall without a backwards glance at his classmates. Knowing that this was the best chance he would get, Harry pulled together all the courage he had, muttered an excuse to his housemates and followed Malfoy out.

As soon as he was out of earshot of the Great Hall, Harry called out,

"Hey Malfoy, wait up."

Malfoy paused and turned round slowly, looking at Harry suspiciously before snapping,

"What do you want, Potter?"

He sounded as if Harry was the last person he wanted to talk to - which, with the exception of Voldemort back from beyond the grave, was probably true - however Harry refused to let this put him off and, like a true Gryffindor, continued on bravely.

"I just thought seeing as we're sharing a dorm this year we should call a truce. You know, civil conversations, no more fighting, that kind of thing."

"I know what a truce is Potter," Malfoy replied as scathingly as ever. But then he seemed to hesitate and for the first time that Harry could remember he looked uncertain about what he was about to say.

"Would that make us...friends, then?"

Harry grinned at him.

"Yes, I suppose it does," he put on a mock solemn face. "As long as you promise not to sabotage my potions anymore." Malfoy smirked at him.

"It's not my fault you're awful at it. I will never understand how you got into the NEWT class."

"Speaking of which," Harry said. "Our first class must be starting soon and we left breakfast before the timetables were given out." Harry could see Ron and Hermione leaving the Great Hall and walking in their direction. Malfoy followed his gaze and snorted,

"I'm sure the other two-thirds of the golden trio will have brought it for you."

"I'm sure they have. Well, see you around...Draco," he responded cheekily. Leaving Draco n a state of semi-shock behind him, he walked off in a much better mood.

xxx

As Harry approached his friends, Ron turned to him looking relieved.

"There you are, Harry. We were wondering where you'd gotten to," Ron said, handing him his timetable. "Why'd you leave so quickly anyway? Could at least have told us where you were going."

"Oh, I left something in the dorm, had to go pick it up."

Ron nodded, accepting it as the truth but Harry cringed at the knowing expression on Hermione's face. Obviously she had seen Malfoy leave just before him. She didn't ask him about it then but he knew she would ambush him about it later, when Ron wasn't there.

As it happened they all had Charms first so they made their way to the classroom together. On the way there Hermione spoke up.

"Ginny was looking for you at breakfast earlier. I had to tell her you'd already left," she looked at him pointedly and Harry felt a stab of guilt. He hadn't even considered his girlfriend when he had gone after Malfoy. Vowing to make it up to her later, he asked Hermione if she knew what class Ginny had first.

"Transfiguration, I think," she looked like she wanted to say more on the subject but they had reached the Charms classroom. They sat down just in time to hear Professor Flitwick ask for silence as their first class of the year began.

xxx

Harry wasn't sure if it was because he hadn't been at school for the last year or whether the teachers were being a lot harder on them because they were older, but the classes seemed to be ten times more difficult than he remembered. The work was being piled onto them and by lunchtime on the first day Harry already had two essays to write and a spell to perfect for the next day. He had been meaning to catch up with Ginny between classes but Flitwick had kept them back so long that they had had to run just to make it to Defence Against the Dark Arts in time.

The defence teacher this year was a middle aged man by the name of Bartholomew Garbe. Unfortunately, he had more of a theoretical approach to defence and, although he wasn't nearly as bad as Umbridge, it did mean that he wasn't much help with actually casting the spells. Rumour had it that he had spent the war holed up in the safety of the Austrian countryside.

After lunch Harry and Ron headed back to the common room to get some of their homework done while Hermione went to Ancient Runes. Luckily, Harry had the whole afternoon free otherwise he was sure he would never get all his work finished on time.

Before long they were joined by Neville who wasted no time in asking Harry about the defence homework. Harry explained to him the different subtleties in spell casting that he had picked up while on they were on the run and in no time Neville had mastered it. Neville was tremendously grateful.

"I don't understand how you do it, Harry. None of what Professor Garbe said made any sense to me," he said sounding a bit down.

"Well, I'm happy to help any time. It's actually just stuff I've figured out through trial and error," Harry replied.

Neville looked at him thoughtfully,

"You know, I'm sure there are loads of other people who would appreciate your help with this. Maybe you could teach them, kind of like the DA again."

Harry considered it. The reason he hadn't wanted to continue the DA in his sixth year was because they had actually had a decent teacher and quite frankly Harry had had enough on his mind worrying about Voldemort. But now that was over and Harry quite liked the idea of teaching people again.

"Alright then, but it wouldn't be a big group. Just tutoring, with a couple of people at a time."

"Brilliant!" Neville beamed at him. "I'll spread the word."

xxx

The first chance Harry got to see Ginny that day was late in the evening after she and Ron had finished the Quidditch tryouts. Ron had brought her back to their common room before disappearing off with Hermione to do God knows what; Harry didn't really want to think about it. Ginny wrapped her arms around him from behind and whispered in his ear,

"Hey, what have you been up to? I haven't seen you all day." She sounded a bit annoyed at him and Harry was quick to assure her that it hadn't been his choice and he would much rather have been with her. She smiled,

"Teachers laying down the workload, huh," at his nod she sat down beside him and continued. "Yeah, same for us. I don't know when I'm going to find time to do everything, especially with Quidditch practice as well.

"Ron told me why you aren't playing anymore. He's not too pleased but I understand why you're doing it. Actually, McGonagall made me Captain in your place."

"That's great!" Harry exclaimed, pulling her into a hug. "I'm glad it's you. Although, I hope Ron doesn't mind that his younger sister will be telling him what to do. He may be a great keeper but he doesn't really have the right temperament to be Captain."

Ginny laughed,

"You have a point. The team's looking good as well. We have the same beaters as before; Peakes and Coote, and Demelza and I have stayed on as chasers. The third chaser's going to be Euan Abercrombie, he's in four year, and Dennis Creevey has replaced you as seeker."

"Really, is he any good?" This surprised Harry. He had no idea that Dennis was good flyer but then again he didn't know much about him. Harry wondered if he was anything like his brother had been and thought it unlikely. No one would ever be able to match Colin's enthusiasm for life and it pained Harry that the war had taken so many lives that had barely begun.

"He's pretty good. Not a scratch on you but with some training he'll be tough competition for the other houses." Ginny replied.

They talked about Quidditch and schoolwork for a while longer. Harry still had his arms around her on the sofa and it was comfortable. That was a good word to describe their relationship; comfortable. Harry loved Ginny and her fierce temper and loyalty, even if she was slightly stubborn in her convictions sometimes. He loved her and he enjoyed spending time with her but there was something missing; the spark that he could see so clearly between Ron and Hermione.

Passion.

Ginny was definitely a passionate person and Harry liked to think he was too about certain things. There had been passion in their relationship too at one point, back when they had started going out in his sixth year. But so much had happened since then and things had changed between them. Maybe that was what settling down meant. It seemed a bit unexciting to Harry but he supposed that was because he was used to having a madman trying to kill him. He wanted a normal life, a normal relationship, and he could have that with Ginny.

xxx

A short while later, Ron and Hermione re-emerged from wherever they had been, looking a bit ruffled, and joined them. People were starting to come back to the common room and before long, a large group had gathered talking and laughing. It was a mixed crowd with people from all the houses, well, almost all the houses. There was a distinct lack of Slytherins present and it wasn't long until someone mentioned it.

"Hey, where are all the Slytherins?" Terry Boot asked. People started looking around and Harry realised that it wasn't just that there were no Slytherins in the group, but there were no Slytherins in the whole common room. Neville spoke up,

"Blaise mentioned that they were all going down to the Slytherin common room. I think they feel more at home there."

Some people seemed a bit uncomfortable at the thought of including the Slytherins in their conversations but the general consensus of the group was that they would try and involve the Snakes more from then on. Harry noticed that Ginny was one of the few who were opposed to this idea.

He mentioned it to her as he walked her back up to the Gryffindor common room.

"The Slytherins aren't as bad as they're made out. It's not like they're that different from the rest of us."

Ginny looked at him incredulously.

"How can you even say that? You should know better than anyone the sort of things that the Slytherins did during the war. I don't know how you can stand sharing a dorm with them let alone getting to know them better."

"That's ridiculous!" They had stopped just outside the Fat Lady's portrait and Harry was aware that if their voices rose much louder people would be able to hear them from the common room. Not wanting anyone to overhear their argument, Harry lowered his voice before he started speaking again. "What happened during the war was not their fault. Most of them were forced into their actions. And besides, Blaise and Draco are my friends now."

"_Draco!"_ she half-shrieked. "You're on first name terms with Malfoy now. You know what, I'm tired. I'm going to bed. We can discuss this in the morning." With those final words stormed off through the portrait hole leaving Harry behind her stunned and wondering what exactly had happened.

xxx

Several weeks later, and Harry and Ginny's relationship was still uneasy. Ginny was ignoring him as much as possible and the time they did spend together was tense; neither of them willing to back down from the argument but neither wanting to bring it up again.

But Harry wasn't concerned about that at the moment. The first Quidditch match of the season was coming up and it happened to be Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. With the different houses in such close proximity within the eighth year rooms, the excitement and pressure had been building for the last week, especially for the players, to a much greater extent than it ever had before. Harry, on the other hand, was quite looking forward to be able to watch from the sidelines for once. He would be cheering for Gryffindor obviously but he did privately hope that Draco might catch the snitch, he definitely deserved it after all the effort he had put in over the years.

The day of the match dawned and the inhabitants of Harry's dorm woke earlier than usual to prepare themselves. Well, Ron and Draco did anyway. The others decided that Saturday was not a day to be woken at such an ungodly hour and dozed in bed a while longer.

When Draco noticed that Harry wasn't getting up with them, he frowned.

"Oi, Potter. Why aren't you getting ready for the match?" he asked. The answering groan from Harry's bed didn't tell him much, so he turned to Ron with a raised eyebrow to find out what it meant.

"He's not playing this year, something about giving other people a chance to get onto the team. He's a bit barmy if you ask me," Ron translated for Draco before having to duck the flying pillow that Harry had lobbed at him. "He still goes out flying in the evenings though, mostly by himself."

"If you're quite finished talking about me," Harry drawled in a tone that would do Draco proud. He paused and then sighed. "Wait for me; I might as well get up and come down to breakfast with you guys."

Once Harry was ready, the three of them headed down to the Great Hall together. The atmosphere was subdued between them. Harry supposed Ron was quiet because he was nervous about the match but Draco seemed to be lost in his own world. Harry wondered what the blond was thinking; he had looked strangely disappointed to find out that Harry wasn't playing, though perhaps that was wishful thinking on Harry's part.

Since deciding to call a truce, the two of them had spending quite a bit of time together, particularly recently, now that Harry wasn't with Ginny as much. Mostly they just studied or did homework and Harry had to admit that Draco was a much better study partner than Ron, who ended up mucking around, or Hermione, who took things a bit too seriously. Sometimes Blaise joined them, and Ron and Hermione too when they weren't too busy being in love.

Neville really had followed through and people often came asking for Harry's help with the defence work. At first it had been slightly awkward, some of the people Harry hardly knew but he soon got used to it and now teaching was second nature to him. Draco helped out too sometimes, adding in comments or pointing out things Harry had missed.

Neither Harry nor Draco could deny that they were firm friends now, and if Harry noticed that his eyes sometimes lingered on Draco's smile a little too often or were immediately drawn to the blond whenever he entered a room, he put it down to being curious about this new side of Draco that he was beginning to see.

They reached the Great Hall and Harry was pulled from his thoughts. Ron headed over towards the Gryffindor table but as Draco was turning to go to his own House, Harry grabbed his wrist.

"Good luck out there," Harry said, offering Draco a small smile and was delighted when the blond gave him a genuine smile in return.

"Thanks."

xxx

The party in the eighth year common room after the match was loud and boisterous. Everyone was enjoying themselves no matter who they had wanted to win, though Harry expected that any excuse for a party was welcome. In an effort to maintain some semblance of peace, he had invited Ginny too but she had told him quite angrily that she wanted no part in a party celebrating a Slytherin victory.

The thought of Ginny made him sigh. He didn't know what had been going on with her lately. Harry had thought that she would eventually get over her prejudices against the snakes. Even Ron had, and he was now frequently found bonding with Blaise and Draco over games of wizard chess. He suspected Ron was just glad to have a decent opponent for once because Harry himself hadn't improved at all since he had first played the game when he was eleven.

But Ginny had made no effort to try and get along with the Slytherins and her attitude towards them was more than a little annoying by this stage. Here Harry was surrounded by people having fun and he was sitting on the sofa in the corner thinking about him and his girlfriend's constant arguments. He didn't even argue that much with Draco and they had been rivals for seven years.

A voice beside Harry startled him and he turned to find Blaise looking at him knowingly whilst sitting down and handing him a butterbeer.

"You're thinking about your girlfriend again, aren't you?" The shock Harry felt at Blaise having guessed his thoughts must have shown because Blaise laughed. "It's written all over your face, typical Gryffindor." The words which once would have held scorn were said teasingly. Blaise sobered suddenly before continuing,

"I'm not sure why you're still going out with her actually. Every day you come back to the dorm telling us about the latest argument you've had. If she's not making you happy, what's the point in being with her?" Blaise clasped Harry's shoulder before returning to the party leaving him alone with his thoughts.

Blaise was right, that's what it should come done to in the end. Harry remembered the look on Draco's face when he had caught the snitch and realised that he had won the match for his team. That had been happiness. For a brief moment, pure unrestrained joy had shone through Draco's eyes and it had made Harry glow inside to see him that ecstatic.

Harry glanced over to where Draco was celebrating with the rest of his friends and noticed that he was looking at Harry, concerned.

"Are you ok?" the blond mouthed at him. Harry nodded and tried to smile at him reassuringly. Draco frowned sceptically and Harry realised that he too could see right through Harry's pathetic attempt at trying to mask his feelings.

Draco came over and threw himself onto the couch with his arm slung on the back around Harry's shoulders. He didn't say anything but then he didn't need to, he was already making Harry feel better.

Harry couldn't help the feeling of warmth that spread through him anymore than he could help the stray thought that popped into his head, telling him that this was what he was missing with Ginny.

xxx

"I broke up with Ginny," the dorm was silent following Harry's announcement and he was suddenly glad that it was only Blaise, Draco and Neville that were there because Harry was sure that if Ron had been there would have been a lot of yelling involved. Harry had come straight back to the dorm to tell them after he had done it, wanting them to be the first to know. Thankfully, just as the silence was becoming a bit awkward Neville spoke,

"Well it was bound to happen sooner or later. I hope you're ok about it though?" the concern in Neville's voice made Harry smile. It was nice to have such supportive friends. It had taken Harry two days after the post-match party to break up with Ginny but he doubted he would have managed without the little push that Blaise had given him. Neville was looking at Harry expectantly and he realised that it had been a question.

"Yeah, I'm fine with it. You're right; I don't think we would have lasted much longer anyway," Harry replied. He then turned to Blaise and Draco who were sitting on Blaise's bed playing exploding snap and had, up until that point, been keeping quiet. "You guys think it's good too, right?"

Blaise grinned at him. "I'm fairly sure you already know my opinion to the whole thing. I'm happy for you, mate."

Harry was glad that Blaise supported him too and that he had found such a good friend in the Slytherin boy, but his wasn't the opinion that really mattered to Harry. He bit his lip nervously and looked at Draco questioningly. He wasn't sure if he was imagining it but Harry could have sworn he saw Draco's eyes glance down at Harry's lips quickly before he answered.

"Anything that makes you happy," the blond said looking directly into Harry's eyes and Harry couldn't help the dazzling smile that spread across his face.

Unfortunately, at that moment Ron walked into the dorm and immediately picked up that something was going on.

"What's happened?" Ron questioned, looking between the four of them for an answer. It was Neville who eventually told him.

"Harry broke up with Ginny," Neville trying to break it to him as gently as possible but Harry could tell that it wasn't going to help.

"YOU WHAT! How could you!" Ron was turning a purple-y colour that reminded Harry strangely of Uncle Vernon. "She's bloody in love with you and you just dumped her!" Ron pivoted round and stormed out the dorm, his parting words that he was going to comfort his sister.

Harry winced at his best mate's yelling. This was exactly the reaction he had imagined Ron would have. Hopefully once he calmed down a bit he would be able to think it through properly and would realise that it was all for the best. He turned away from the empty spot that Ron had occupied and tried to put on an optimistic expression.

"Well, that went well," Harry announced in a fake cheerful voice. Draco snorted before returning to his game with Blaise leaving Harry to get on with a Charms essay that was due first thing the next morning. He glanced at his watch and realised that he had better get a move on because it was already quite late and he didn't fancy a night of very little sleep.

xxx

Whispers followed Harry the next morning at breakfast and he sighed realising that news of his break-up with Ginny must have spread through the school already.

For once, Harry was actually glad that it was a week day and they had classes because at least it meant that people would have to concentrate on their lessons rather than the goings on of Harry's life.

"Suck it up, mate. You know they'll get bored of it eventually." Ron said consolingly from beside Harry. The red-head was in a much better mood with Harry this morning. He had come back from his talk with Ginny the previous night looking slightly sheepish and had apologised to Harry for overreacting before going to bed. Apparently, Ginny hadn't given him the most favourable impression of her side of the story.

"What are you going to do this weekend then, Harry?" Neville asked him from across the table. It took Harry a moment to realise that he was talking about the Hogsmeade trip that was taking place. He had been planning on going with Ginny but now he wasn't sure what he would do.

"I dunno. Ron and Hermione are going together and I don't really want to intrude on them." Harry replied with wry smile. "I might just stay here and get some homework done." It wasn't that he particularly wanted to be stuck in the castle but it was better than being a third wheel to his best friends.

"Oh, well there's a group of us going down together; Blaise, Draco and me," Neville told him. "Seamus and Dean said they might join us at some point as well. You could come with us too if you want, it's better than staying here in the castle alone."

"Thanks, Neville. That would be great." Harry said with a smile. He was quite looking forward to the weekend now.

"Don't get too happy about it, we have potions first thing today and you know that's never good," Ron told him.

Unfortunately, Harry couldn't help but agree with Ron on that one. Although potions lessons were a lot more enjoyable now that Slughorn was teaching them, Harry would always remember everything that Snape had done for him over the years and potions class without Snape only highlighted his absence.

Not to mention the fact that Harry still wasn't very good at potions and he didn't have The Half-blood Prince's book anymore.

However, Harry was determined not to let any of that ruin his good mood and new found freedom.

xxx

"Today, we're going to be making the Dreamless Sleep Potion. Now it's very advanced stuff, so I'd like everyone to work in pairs for this lesson," Professor Slughorn announced to his class, who immediately started moving around to find partners. Usually, because there weren't actually that many of them in the NEWT class they just worked individually but occasionally, if a potion was particularly complex, they would work together to make it.

Harry looked around the room for someone to work with. Ron and Hermione had paired off straight away which wasn't entirely surprising; however, Harry noticed that Blaise had partnered with Pansy leaving Draco free. He grinned and beckoned Draco over.

"I would've thought you and Blaise would work together," Harry said as Draco approached him bringing his school stuff with him. Draco pulled a face,

"No, I think he's trying to impress Pansy so that she'll want to go out with him."

Harry nodded. Despite what many believed, he knew that Draco and Pansy had never been a couple, mostly owing to the fact that Draco was completely gay. They were close, of course, but like siblings rather than in a romantic way. Harry remembered Blaise had let that slip in the common room one day. A bubbly feeling had risen through him and Harry had struggled to stop a grin spreading from ear to ear across his face. At the time Harry hadn't thought much of his reaction but now that he wasn't with Ginny, he allowed himself to follow that train of thought.

Harry had always known that he was attracted to men as well as women. Not that he had ever admitted it aloud to anyone but he had never been ashamed of it. Draco had always been able to get his heart thumping like no one else ever had, even when they were fighting. Now that the blond had stopped gelling his hair back it tended it hang around his face in a way that made Harry itch to reach out and touch it.

The blond was also staring amusedly at Harry with a raised eyebrow obviously wondering what Harry had been daydreaming about for the last ten minutes.

Harry blushed heavily and cleared his throat.

"Right, well then," Harry said, slightly flustered. "I'll go get the ingredients from the supply cupboard and then we can get started."

Draco watched him walk off with a smile.

xxx

The weekend arrived and with it the trip to Hogsmeade. Straight after a rather late breakfast, Harry and the others left the castle and began the walk down to the village. When they reached the first shops Ron and Hermione went their own way, promising to meet up with them later at The Three Broomsticks.

It was a clear day with bright blue skies and, considering it was almost winter, the air was actually quite warm. They decided to make the most of the weather by walking around the village for a while.

Eventually, they split ways when Draco announced that he needed to go to the apothecary to buy some more potions supplies. Neville wasn't taking potions so he had no interest in going with them; Blaise came up with a compromise.

"I don't need any more supplies so how about Harry goes with Draco to the apothecary and you can meet me and Neville outside the bookshop once you're finished," Blaise said. This seemed like a reasonable suggestion so they set off in different directions.

Walking around Hogsmeade alone with Draco was a nerve-wracking experience for Harry. At first there was a slightly awkward silence between the pair, not because they had never spent time with just the two of them, but because being out in Hogsmeade together felt alarmingly like a date.

Harry cleared his throat to try and alleviate the tension that was building. Draco turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow and an amused smile, obviously knowing exactly what Harry was doing. Harry frantically tried to think of something to say so as not to seem like a complete idiot.

"So, what are you planning to do after we finish school?" Harry asked, genuinely curious about the answer.

"I'm not sure yet," Draco replied thoughtfully. "I do enjoy potions but I'm not sure I want to end up working in one of those my whole life." He nodded towards the apothecary that they had just arrived at. "I was thinking about going into Healing," he said in an offhand way that couldn't quite hide his uncertainty over how Harry might respond to that.

"That's a great idea! Are you going to apply to St. Mungos for an apprenticeship?" Harry asked him enthusiastically, picking up a few things that he needed and taking them to the counter to pay.

Draco didn't answer and Harry turned to see if he was still there. The blond was looking at Harry with an unreadable expression on his face, but Harry could tell that he'd expected to be scoffed at. Suddenly, Draco gave him a wide grin which made Harry's heart fluttered and he could feel his cheeks reddening. But before Harry could say anything, Draco had brushed past him to pay for his own supplies leaving Harry flustered and with tingles in his arm where Draco had put his hand as he walked past.

xxx

Nothing much else happened as Harry and Draco walked back to the bookshop to meet up with the others, and it left Harry feeling quite disappointed. He wasn't sure what he had expected to happen but he was well aware that his feelings for the Slytherin had been written all over his face. The fact that Draco hadn't responded made Harry feel a bit dejected, perhaps it was all one-sided and Draco didn't think of him in that way at all.

However, just before they reached the bookshop Draco grabbed Harry's wrist and pulled him into a deserted side street.

"Do you really think I'd make a good Healer?" Draco asked, a frown creasing his forehead. Out of all the things that Harry thought he would ask that was the least likely, and because he wasn't expecting it Harry took a second too long to answer. Draco immediately pounced on his hesitation.

"See, you don't really! Why would a former death eater want to become a healer? That's what everyone else would think. I haven't even told anybody apart from you because I know that would just laugh at the idea." Draco's voice was getting louder and more upset with every word and Harry knew he had to sort out the misunderstanding before it went too far.

"No, no! That's not what I meant. I think you'd be an amazing healer, I just wasn't expecting the question that was all," Harry put his hand on the Draco's arm in an attempt to calm him down and the blond leaned into the gesture, seeking comfort. "Have people been saying things like that to you?"

"No," Draco said, sounding completely deflated. "But they don't need to say anything; you can tell they're thinking it. Like that apothecary back there, he watched me the whole time I was in the store to make sure I didn't try anything, just because I'm a Malfoy."

"But that's not fair!" Harry exclaimed. "Nothing that happened in the war was your fault, you never had a choice."

Draco let out a weak laugh and slung his arm around Harry's shoulder pulling him closer into a half hug, "Of course it's unfair, but that's the way it is. I guess it upsets your Gryffindor sense of righteousness." He looked fondly at Harry, who was suddenly very aware of how close they were standing. He could see the different coloured flecks of Draco's eyes; the shades of blue, grey and almost ethereal silver. He could also see the same dawning awareness of their position reflected in the blond's eyes and it made his heart somersault inside his chest.

Harry watched with wide eyes as a hand was lifted up before his face and the pale elegant fingers reached out and gently stroked his cheek. He watched as shimmering grey eyes searched every inch of his face, thin lips moving into a soft smile while edging forwards and...

"Hey Harry, Draco, there you are," Neville said approaching them, and in that moment Harry had never hated his friend more. "Me and Blaise were just round the corner, hadn't realised you were down here. Come on, Seamus and Dean are waiting for us at The Three Broomsticks, and Ron and Hermione will be along there soon."

Mood successfully broken, Harry and Draco followed after Neville studiously avoiding meeting the other's eyes.

xxx

The wind whistled through Harry's hair as he circled around the Quidditch pitch a few times before flying out further into the castle grounds. He hadn't had much time for flying recently what with schoolwork and NEWT preparation and he'd almost forgotten the feeling of freedom it gave him.

It was also a very good way of clearing his mind and trying to order his thoughts. It had been a week since the almost-kiss at Hogsmeade and in that time Harry had been trying to avoid Draco as much as possible, not knowing how they stood with each other. Hermione had eventually called him on it which had led to a very awkward conversation involving a lot of blushing of Harry's part and a lot of knowing looks on Hermione's.

Harry still wasn't sure what Hermione had been trying to accomplish with their talk. She had asked whether he had feelings for Draco but he could tell that she already knew the answer was yes. Actually, by this point Harry was fairly sure he was in love with the blond judging from how much time he spent thinking about him.

Hermione had also said that she was certain that Draco felt the same way about him but Harry didn't know how she could have come to that conclusion. The Slytherin had opened up more since becoming their friend but not to the extent that his innermost feelings could be found anywhere other than inside his head, and Harry was pretty sure Hermione hadn't been in there. The only time that Harry ever caught a glimpse of true feeling on Draco's face was when they were alone together, and yes that did warm Harry's heart, but it could easily just be because they were closer friends than Draco was with any of the others. It didn't necessarily mean that the blond had feelings for him.

Harry let out a deep sigh and looked around realising that it had gotten dark while he had been thinking. He swerved his broom around and headed back towards the changing room next to the Quidditch pitch. As he approached them he saw a distinctive blond flash of hair in the stands watching him that could only be one person. Harry landed on the ground and made his way over to the changing room, pretending that he hadn't noticed Draco. He was still confused about what to do and was definitely not ready for the confrontation that would come. Harry may have been avoiding him but that hadn't stopped him from keeping an eye on Draco and he could tell that the blond was getting annoyed at him.

Draco was waiting for him outside the changing room when Harry came out a few minutes later after having cleaned himself up slightly. As soon as he saw the Slytherin standing there he paused and debated whether or not it would be easier to make a mad dash up to the castle. He sighed, knowing that that was only going to put off the inevitable.

Harry stared at the ground and mumbled a greeting, bracing himself for the harsh onslaught, but it never came. Instead, there was a soft tone that Harry had never heard from Draco before.

"Are you just going to pretend I don't exist for the rest of your life or are you going to face this? Because I can't put myself through this if you don't..." the blond trailed off sounding choked, and Harry looked up finally to see his own feelings reflected in the other's eyes. He could see the depth of the emotion in those grey orbs and subconsciously let out a small gasp which drew Draco's attention back to him.

The anxiety and uncertainty that had been building up inside Harry for the last week disappeared entirely now that he was back in Draco's presence and he couldn't for the life of him remember was he'd been avoiding this. He was in love with this man in front of him and now he could see that his feelings were returned as well. It made him want to laugh out loud and sing songs all day and those other clichéd things that people in love did, but he could see the doubt in Draco's eyes and hurried to dispel it before the Slytherin could jump to any conclusions.

"No, I'm not going to ignore you anymore. I've just been confused about things and about what's going on, but this," Harry said, gesturing between them. "I want this," he emphasised and not knowing what else to say, and having always been a believer that actions speak louder than words he pressed his lips to Draco's, surprising the blond.

Barely a second passed before Draco's brain caught up and he started kissing him back passionately. It was everything that Harry had ever wanted and, as he was just beginning to realise, it was who he had always wanted as well.

After a few moments, Harry drew back and looked into Draco's eyes. The happiness there reminded Harry of when the blond had won the Quidditch match and he felt a surge of emotion in his chest knowing that he had put it there this time.

With a wide smile on his face, Harry moved back closer to Draco, threading his arms around the blond's waist and nestling his nose into the crook of his neck. Inhaling, he let the scent that was uniquely Draco wash over him. The rest of the world slipped away and for the first time that Harry could remember, he felt complete.

**AN – **Well, that's the end. Hope you enjoyed reading it and please review so I know what you guys thought it.


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